Not in Love
by etain-lives
Summary: "Myka and Claudia are trapped and promise to reveal their feelings for their women. Cleena and Bering&Wells"


This is my first ever BERING&WELLS/CLEENA fic.

This was giving to me as a prompt by the writer **StraightJacketxD** that goes as-

**"Myka and Claudia are trapped and promise to reveal their feelings for their women.**  
**Cleena and Bering&Wells"**

Apologies for being a tadwordy. 2,000 words or less word counts are not my friend. Any mistakes and irregularities are all my own.

I DO NOT OWN WAREHOUSE 13, OR 10CC.

* * *

**(I'm) NOT IN LOVE**

Claudia ducked behind a shelf as she located a proper spot for Gabby Hartnett's Catcher's Mask amongst the rest of the MLB memorabilia housed in aisle forty-two.

Looking down into the box clutched to her chest, Claudia sighed. She and the gang had been assigned inventory for the rest of the week because as usual, things were backed up in the archives. The last time she had checked her watch it was 5:30 pm. If they were working in a normal setting, everyone would've been on the way home getting ready for the weekend, but this was Warehouse 13. Nothing was ever normal at the Warehouse.

Today being a Friday the 13th was no exception.

"Hey, Pete I was just—"

The owner of the voice stopped short as she rounded the corner. Claudia raised her head as her face broke into a welcoming grin at the sight of the curly haired senior agent, Myka Bering.

"Oh, Claud I didn't know you were down here." Myka leaned against the shelf and folded her arms. It was surprising to find Claudia on this side of inventory. Normally Pete had a liking for archiving the sports, no let's rephrase that, anything that he could play with was his choice of inventory.

Claudia flippantly waved a purple gloved hand. "Oh well you know, Mr. Superstitious decided to leave early thanks to that black cat incident you guys had earlier at the B&B. Something about not spending Unlucky 13th at the Warehouse 13."

"What?" Myka frowned as she shook her head. She barely remembered the incident, let alone considered using it as an excuse to leave work early. "Seriously, when has Pete ever been this superstitious?"

A smirk came onto the young computer genius' face as she recounted the incident. "Lemme see, that one case you guys had a few months ago where he stepped on a crack and—"

"Broke his mama's back." A wince formed on both of the women's faces in the memory.

"But, after we neutralized it Mrs. Lattimer was fine." Myka raised a finger in a counterpoint, "Actually, she says her back feels better now than it did beforehand."

The case was very strange one. They had to located a book of superstitions which caused the owner to experience each of the superstitions as fact. Poor Pete had made the mistake of running across it inside of a box of old comics at a garage sale. Considering their job at the Warehouse, one would've assumed the agent would've been more careful when handling the secondhand goods. It had taken them an entire day of recounting their steps before Pete remembered "tossing" the one book that was not a comic into the trash.

"Pete's normally really good at bouncing back." Myka finished slowly. Though the incident was traumatic on both ends, Pete never once showed any signs of being distressed afterwards. As with any bag and tag, he was his usual goofy Pete-ster self (as he called it) once it concluded. She assumed he was fine.

Claudia nodded, "Yeah well, you know how he is. Maybe seeing his mom get whammied knocked a little sense into his brain for once. God knows we could do with a little less of the ole' touchy de artifacty Pete."

Myka groaned in agreement. Her partner had a childlike temperament that made it very trying to work with him at times. In between trying to keep up with the Warehouse crazy, it was always a sport keeping Pete's antics in check.

"Hey, want me to give you a hand with that?" Myka's eyes flickered over the box that Claudia was toting. The techie beamed.

"Sure."

Ever prepared, Myka fished a pair of matching purple gloves from her back pocket and sidled along the techie at the shelf. She helped herself to a list detailing specific item information and began the tedious task of stocking the shelf.

"Anyway…." Claudia began interrupting Myka's thoughts. Her hands clamped the box to her middle as she danced a little on the balls of her feet. "I was wondering since you were my ride down to the shop later, if you wouldn't mind spending a few extra minutes helping us set up. This is our biggest gig so far and…" Claudia pushed a green streak of hair from out of her face shyly.

Seeing the techie flushing with embarrassment was cute. Despite being considered legally an adult, Claudia was the baby of the family in more ways than just age. Claudia agreed herself that in the Warehouse, Myka and Pete tended to function as her big sister and brother, whereas Artie was their ever grumpy father figure. Even with these differences, everyone respected her opinion and treated her as they would any other colleague.

"Sure Sweetie, anything for you." Myka gave her an endearing smile. "Just as long as Cory doesn't ask me to hold his musty sweater again I will be fine."

Claudia laughed, it came out as a snort. "That's his good luck sweater ya know right?"

At this admission, Myka cringed in mortification. "More like an eww-yuck sweater. Does he ever wash that thing?"

Her nose wrinkled at just the thought of the foul shirt. If she didn't know any better, she would've thought that was an artifact itself considering how raggedy and dirty the piece of attire was. Claudia stopped working to give her a pointed brow raise.

"Did Linus ever wash his blankie?"

"Why did I even ask?" Exasperated, Myka rolled her eyes.

The twosome worked in a comfortable silence for a few more minutes. Claudia had turned her mp3 player loud enough so they both could hear it with the help of portable speakers, and softly sang along.

It was 6:15 when both agents decided to call it a night. Two-thirds finished with the artifacts, Claudia took off her gloves and tossed them on top of the box. Doing so, the contents shifted and a surprised look came onto her face.

Buried underneath the baseball memorabilia, a battered black cassette poked out. White opaque tape covered one side and on it the words, "Not in Love", were scrawled in black marker.

" Oh cool!" Claudia squealed as she stuck her hand back into the box and picked up the tape. "This has got's to be Arties, dude is so prehistoric. Who the heck still uses cassettes?"

Myka side-glanced the techie curiously and made her way over. As she peered over Claudia's shoulder at the cassette in her hand, there was a sudden thundering sound which shook the Warehouse. Startled, both women jumped. Following the ominous noise the lights in the Warehouse flickered off and on in rapid succession.

Immediately, two pairs of eyes shot to the ceiling and towards the century old electrical rods. Shockingly, the purple waves of electricity were flowing in the usual stable pattern.

"Weird."

Claudia murmured. Being the assigned Warehouse maintenance, she was used to the strange technologies "mood swings", but this was one of the strangest she had ever seen.

Exchanging wary glances, they both tried to count the moment off with shrugs. Before either could turn back to examining the tape, another thundering noise reverberated through the warehouse. Once again, the lights flickered.

Slightly worried, the senior agent's brows furrowed. "Claudia, do you know if anyone else left already?"

The techie bit her lower lip in thought, "Hmm, um, well Artie had that meeting thingy with Vanessa, Pete's playing scaredy cat, Leena promised to make some more butterscotches, Jinks visiting some friends, and HG is…" She looked to Myka waiting on her to fill in the rest. The older agent's face flushed just a smidge.

"…She had to pick up an order from the Univille hardware store."

"So basically, that means were alone."

Punctuating the end of her sentence, another roll of thunder disturbed the Warehouse. Shelves rattled precariously as the ground below shook. Above the lights flickered like strobes, some of the bulbs popping. The lightshow ended as the Warehouse stopped quaking and the remaining bulbs went dark.

The warehouse settled in complete darkness.

Both agents stood frozen in the dark aisle. Aside from the eerie glow cast from some of the artifacts, it was near impossible to see. Interrupting the quiet, Claudia spoke, "And so goes the generator in five, four, three, two,-"

Nothing.

Frowning, the techie scratched her head. "That was not supposed to happen." She turned towards Myka barely making out her form in the dark, "Maybe it's a little sluggish today."

Knowing the techie, Myka accepted the theory without question. Both agents waited patiently for the sound of the Warehouse generator to kick in.

In the background a soft whistling noise began. Discounting it as typical warehouse, Myka ignored it. After a few seconds, the sound morphed into a low humming of a chorale, causing her to sharply turn her head towards the end of the aisle. The sound swept over the next aisle before falling silent.

Confounded, Myka turned towards Claudia. The techie was still awaiting the sound of the generator.

"Did you hear that?" Myka pointed behind her back. In the faint light she could see as Claudia's face shifted into a frown.

"I thought that was you!"

"No…" Myka was now officially more than a little spooked as her hand instinctively went to her Tesla. Turning sideways to the other end of the aisle, it dawned on her the proximity of their location to a certain infamous vault. The theory that popped into her mind sent a cold chill down her spine.

Unable to keep it to herself any longer she began cautiously, "Ehm, Claudia?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't think the things in the Dark Vault are walking around do you?" There was a bumping noise as the techie jumped, knocking into the shelf.

"Not funny Myka!"

"I mean there's a reason they are locked in a room, whereas everything else is shelved out in the open."

Considering this theory, the techie went mum. Only in the Warehouse could a nursery rhyme or bedtime story literally come to life and scar you for life.

The Dark Vault was home to some of the most sinister artifacts in the world. These artifacts were so evil, they normally required not only safe keeping from humans but also from interaction between other artifacts. Amongst the horror stories that followed the artifacts, most unsettling of them all was how the Agents capturing these artifacts were usually prime victims to the horrors. In the time she had spent at the warehouse, she had witnessed both Myka and Pete suffer under their effects. Each incident nearly ended in death.

Shivering, Claudia tried to shake the thought from her head. As if hearing her thoughts, Myka pushed into motion beside her.

"Look I don't know about you Claudia, but why don't we just call it a night and head back towards the B&B?"

"Agreed."

Without an ounce of hesitation the techie sprung beside the agent. She huddled the box of leftover goods to her chest all the while looking around cautiously. In the dark all of the aisles looked the same and Claudia could barely decipher the path back to the loft, it made her feel vulnerable.

Myka led the way from the Aisle back to the front of the Warehouse. She silently thanked whatever heaven there was for her photographic memory.

First at the top of the stairs, Myka made for the door. She attempted to open it, only to discover it was sealed tight. Pressing her weight against the lock, she attempted to pry it open. By now, Claudia made it up the stairs. Her boots clunked loudly on the landing as she came to stand by Myka's side.

"Uhhh, everythings ok over here Mykes?"

Huffing frustrated, the curly haired agent tugged on the door,"It won't open!"

Settling the box onto the floor, the techie took up the side of the door and tried to help Myka pull it open. Seconds turned into minutes before each agent proved the effort to be futile.

The knot in the senior agent's brow was barely visible in the dark of the warehouse. "Has this door vacuum sealed itself before?"

"How would I know," Claudia vainly pressed against its steel surface. "Oh wait, Mykes- the manual! Does it say anything about this in the manual?"

Myka scrunched her brows as she tried to remember, "Uh…Doors, doors. Passcodes for the Dark Vault, Escher Vault, Bronze Sector …No, I've got nothing. There's nothing in the manual about the actual Warehouse door!"

Claudia slapped herself on the head. "Oh, we're so stupid Mykes! How could we forget our handy dandy Farnsworths?" She quickly pulled the bulky device from a pocket on her utility belt.

"We'll just call Leena at the B&B and she or Pete can come down and get us out." Panic dissipated at the realization. Claudia flicked open the screens control and the smile on her face went south.

"Ok, ultra weird. Myka?"

"Hmm?"

"Check your Farnsworth."

Myka opened her Farnsworth and gasped in discovery. The screen was blank. "It's not working!"

Claudia nervously cleared her throat. "You don't happen to have a cell do you?"

"No." The usually prepared agent threw her arms in the air. "I stopped carrying one after Pete broke it trying to test that whole "Iphones in a blender" thingy he saw on youtube."

"Oh, frack!" Claudia grabbed onto the sides of her head. "He did what? Who the heck does that!?" The techie silently swore to never trust Pete with her phone or a blender ever again.

"Wait, the landline! Maybe it still works." Myka rushed to Artie's desk and picked up the corded phone. Putting it to her ear, her face fell. "No good."

"Um, ok. Well that's ok. We'll just wait until the others back home realize we're not there and..."

"Uh, Claud?"

"Yea?"

"Didn't you have that gig at 10 tonight?"

"Yeah." Claudia frowned. "Wait, oh gosh darn! I'm going to miss the gig now too!" The techie pouted childishly.

"No, don't you remember? I was supposed to be giving you a ride there!" Myka grabbed her head in a headache. "And everyone else was meeting us at the jam, they won't know to look for us!"

"As if this couldn't get any worse." Claudia plopped into her chair that was situated in front of her revered laptop. Seeing the techie seated at her throne gave Myka an idea.

"Is there a way you can hack us out?"

Sighing, the techie pressed the power button on both computers. Neither came on. "With the power down, plus both the Farnsworths and phones gone kaput. Nada."

Frustrated, Claudia sunk back into her chair with the lifeless Farnsworth pressed under her chin. Too stubborn to admit defeat, Myka tried to make herself useful by picking through the box Claudia dropped on the desk.

Her eyes caught onto the strange cassette from earlier and her mind began to churn with excitement. Struggling into a glove, Myka gingerly picked the cassette from the box.

"Hey, didn't you touch this one?"

"Yeah huh, that's Arties right? " Claudia leaned closer. "It definitely wasn't on the inventory list."

"Um, I don't know about that sweetie." Myka frowned in thought, "I think this might just be an artifact."

Dumbfounded, Claudia's jaw flapped open, Myka further theorized. "When you picked it up, it activated and maybe this is why everything went cuckoo."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's neutralize it!"

Myka reached into her desk and pulled a silver neutralizer bag from the top draw. Holding it open and away from her, Claudia plucked the cassette into the bag. Upon impact, they both turned their heads awaiting the explosion.

Sensing nothing sparky, Myka popped open an eye looking around the office in disappointment."The powers still down."

Claudia opened her eyes and scowled. "Darn, darn, darn!" She stomped away with her arms folded across her middle. Not deterred, Myka peeked down into the bag and checked the contents. The battered cassette looked relatively normal but something about still nagged her.

Picking it up out of the bag she held it up to read the words messily scrawled on the sides. If use was determined by wear, this was a much played. Cocking her head, she wondered what was on the tape. "Maybe it's one of those weird ones that need to be solved before neutralizing?"

"Ugh, so it's a smartass!" Claudia plopped in a chair across from Myka. "Ok, what do we do?"

The senior agent frowned. Peeling the tape backwards she was able to read the words, "Not in love" aloud.

"What kind of trickery is this?"

"I don't know. Looks to be a riddle, it can't be that hard though just state what we do not love and voila…"

Claudia snorted. "Well those are simple, I hate chores and you hate videogames-" Claudia threw Myka a glance, catching as she nodded her head in complacent agreement. Claudia's eyes then dropped down to the artifact, "Now let us out of here!"

"Nothing's happening."

"Ew. Is this thing technical or something?" She poked it. "I hate doing dishes and Myka hates the DS game Cooking Mama."

Nothing.

Myka stuck her hand out. "Here, let me try."

Claudia wordlessly handed it over. Myka took back the cassette, she eyed it warily if not curious. "Maybe we should try some other things. Maybe it's reverse psychology, and it wants us to confide what we really love."

The techie stuck up a finger. "Ohhh, that's a good one. So it's like having a dark dirty secret you always deny!"

The curly haired agent wasn't sure what to think of the suggestion. There was no way Myka Bering was exposing any dirty dark secrets here in the pitch black warehouse even if the said person sharing her company was Claudia, the warehouse's beloved techie and her somewhat little sister.

"Err, I don't know about that…"

Myka considered it. What did she have to lose? At least it wasn't Pete. Sometimes her opposing agent had a way of being too immature. Though she loved him as a brother, at times she found herself wanting to choke him. He would taunt her to the grave if he knew something that she thought was embarrassing and he thought it was funny.

She cleared her throat. "I love chocolate cake."

Claudia gasped dramatically placing a hand over her heart. "Myka!"

Myka jumped a little. She looked guilty and embarrassed. "What?"

"You said you don't eat sugar!" She wagged an accusing finger in Myka's face.

"Well I do sometimes"

"Yea, in Twizzler form." Claudia poked her out her bottom lip. "And when it was your bday you wouldn't even let Leena make you her special cake." She frowned. "The only thing you wanted was fro-yo!"

"Ok, ok." Myka held up her hands defensively. "I can be a little indulgent sometimes," She stressed the word. "But chocolate makes me sick and it's worse than when Pete binges on Fudge night."

"Wow." Claudia shook her head. "Well you win one there. If that's your dark dirty, you definitely aren't the naughty girl I figured you to secretly be."

Myka guffawed.

Claudia stuck out her palm, Myka plopped the tape into the middle. Turning off to the side, Claudia considered her deepest darkest secret to confide.

"Well my secret love bazaar is," She leaned it close to her lips and whispered to the surface. "I secretly love to play the Jimi Hendrix guitar when I'm alone in the Warehouse."

Myka gasped. "Claudia!"

Claudia hunched and ducked her head as if avoiding possible assault. "Chill Mykes, it was only a few times." She held up her hand defensively. "And each time I made sure I played safe. Headgear and extra goo buckets and all."

This did not stop the older woman from shaking her head in disapproval. "Mykes, have you ever played that thing? It's addictive Ok."

Seeing Myka refused to budge from her stance, Claudia grumbled. "Pete would've understood."

Moving to the far end of the office, Myka was going through a cabinet. She fished out a flashlight and turned it on. It was a little dim but good enough. "What was that?" She flashed the light on Claudia's face, she shrank back with her hands over her eyes.

"Hm, oh huh? I just said it's a little heated in this area."

Distracted, Myka tug on her shirt collar. "Claud, I think your right. It does feel a little warmer in here. I thought it was just me." She pushed her hair backwards from her face. "Woo, I'm like seriously sweating. My hair is wet."

Claudia squinted at the ceiling. "The central systems down to."

"What do we do now?" Myka settled back in a chair, her new found goodies placed out infront of her. Claudia had her own knickknacks spread out on the table. Most of the things were electrical parts and bolts. Myka could only wonder what the little Macguyver was attempting to cook up.

"We have two choices, locate a signal in here so we can call out some kind of way or stay here until morning."

Considering the options, Myka tilted her head, "Or we could figure out how to neutralize this and get on with the night."

"Or we don't and spend the rest of the night fending off the Dark Vault." Claudia groaned and knocked her head onto her knees, "I hate Friday the 13th."

The techie reeked of hopelessness and the sight was deeply disturbing to the curly haired agent. More stunned than upset, Myka's voice rose as she tried to talk some sense into her, "Claudia, you're the computer genius! Hotwire us out of here or something!"

Claudia shot upright with her eyes glaring directly into Myka's. "What? Do you want me to hijack the Farnsworths or something?" At the statement, Myka's eyes took on a dangerous glint, this did not bode well with the hacker. "Uh uh, hells no. I'm already going to take the heat for the generator not working because I was the one who fixed it in the first place."

Myka made a pouty face.

"You. Are. EVIL." Claudia jabbed a finger in Myka's side. "Look, when Artie comes hunting for heads YOU are going to be the fall man. I'd just say you coerced me into breaking Warehouse laws by use of bodily force."

"Whatever." A smirk played onto Myka's face. "You build that signal and we get out of here."

Claudia already focused the flashlight onto the inner workings of her Farnsworth. Following, yet not understanding the techies thought process, Myka's own mind went back to the cassette on the table.

"Claudia can you hand me that tape again?"

Taking the cassette in hand, Myka looked it over slowly. Apart from the three words scrawled on the front, it was blank. An idea began working inside the agents head ending with wide eyes of realization.

"Hey, Claud?"

Without looking up, Claudia responded.

"How about instead of making a signal, what if we played the cassette. And once we play it, we can.."

"Can figure out what the riddle is!" Claudia pushed off from the table as she hopped to her feet. Without another word, she made her way over to the corner of the room and pulled an old boombox from under a stack of paperwork. "Remind us to thank Pete for having this stupid thing."

Quickly, Claudia came back to the table and placed the radio in the center of the table. Using a few of the small screw drivers, she unhinged both Myka's Tesla and the connecting plug of the boombox. "If we fire directly, it might cause the radio to fuse out."

She connected the wire to the Tesla's main frame. "When I add this to here, it will make it possible for the motor to generate a steady current like a socket."

"Wow." Myka watched in awe as Claudia worked. Claudia pulled the trigger and as proposed, the current ran continuously. "Turn it on now."

Myka popped the tape into the radio and pressed play. After a few blank moments, the sound slowly turned into a light chorale playing over a steady bossa nova beat. Beside her, Claudia winced at the sound and seemed confused as to what to make out of it.

A stunned Myka placed a hand over her mouth, "Oh my god, I know this song." A man began to sing in a low mumbled voice. It sound like he was talking to himself inside a paper cup.

Bobbing her head quirkily to the rhythm Claudia piped up, "Eh, you know, it's...not that bad…A bit old school, but wooo-whooo- Go 80's!" She bumped her fist in the air. Myka shook her head at the display.

"You know, my mom used to love this song and it drove my dad nuts. She said it was how he acted when they first met, something about him denying liking her at the time but acting like a puppy dog whenever she was near him."

"So…" Claudia didn't get the tape or Myka's drift.

"We were going about this all wrong."

Claudia stopped bobbing her head.

"If this is the artifact, we're both lying about how we feel about someone we really like, and the only way to break its affects would be for us to admit our denial."Myka bowed her head, her hair fell forward hiding her expression. "It wants us to say who we are in love with."

"Oh." Finally understanding, Claudia blinked sheepishly. "Ohhhh."

Swallowing deeply, the techie paced a few steps forward. The movement looked nervous and jerky. "Oh that's a funny one, we're both single. So how the world is that going to work? Right?"

Since Myka did not respond, Claudia eyed her suspiciously. "Care to share Lady Chatterley?"

"You read that book?" The literature enthusiast brows shot high.

"Not really, just knows it deals with a secret lover. Or something like that. You've been hiding someone in your closet Myka?"

"Of course not!" Myka's voice went up an octave. "I'm not seeing anybody."

Missing her friends uncomfortable shift, Claudia continued, "Well if you're not and I'm definitely not, then neither of us are in love. Case closed." At this, she gave a stubborn thrust of her chin. This moment was lost as from the side, Myka's weakly murmured, "That's not what the artifact thinks."

"Ok…"Claudia leaned in on the table, her face shadowed by the flashlight. "So whats next? Pinkie swear with a song that we'll fess up to our supposed crushes?"

"Maybe we're supposed to admit it," Myka nervously glanced at Claudia. "And then swear to each other that we'll tell whomever it is when we get out of here."

"Ok, that's not a hard deal." Claudia sunk to the floor, pressing her back against the shelf. "We just have to be honest here. Completely balls out honest with ourselves."

Settling down across from the techie, Myka mirrored her position on the ground.

A hush fell over the Warehouse loft as the tape played out to the end and stopped. Breaking the silence, Claudia took a deep breath and released it slowly. The action drew Myka's attention forward. Not meeting her friends eye directly, Claudia spoke.

"Well, I kind-of sorta have a more than girl-crush on Leena."

Claudia ended this with a deep breath as if she was relieved. Myka's brows shot high, "You and Leena?" She looked the techie over as if she was seeing her for the first time. "Wow...I mean, it's… I would never have guessed it."

Across from her, the techie twitched embarrassedly under the senior agent's curious scrutiny, "Although, I'm surprised, strangely enough. It makes so much sense I can't believe I didn't pick up on it already."

Myka found herself thinking back to moments of Claudia and Leena interaction.

The attraction between them was so subtle, hidden behind soft smiles and offerings of helping each other out with task at the B&B and Warehouse, it was easy to miss. Now that she thought about it, Leena always paid special attention to Claudia when she packed lunches. Myka never thought too much into the act because she always assumed it was because Pete had a bad habit of breaking into their lunches before they got to them.

"Gee thanks," Claudia rolled her eyes. "At least someone wasn't making fun of my helpless pining behind my back."

"Wait, you think the others already knew?"

Claudia turned her attention to the bracelets on her wrist. "Jinks does. He was the first one I told when I started having you know, feelings, towards someone of the same sex for the first time." She paused as her cheeks flushed as bright as her hair. "I didn't say exactly who it was but you know how he is with his ability and all…"

"Wow." Myka's voice trailed.

Sometimes Jinks' ability was a little unnerving, but considering she was never a liar, it never bothered her to know he had it. To find out there was a way his ability could've enabled him to pick up on something such as trivial as a hidden crush sent jitters to her stomach. What if he already knew about it, about who, she had a crush on long before she had been willing to admit that truth to herself even?

"So what about you?" Claudia peered up at Myka. There was something playing across her lips that Myka wasn't certain how to read. Looking away, Myka cleared her throat and took to staring at her bridged fingertips that rested in her lap. It took a while for her to say a word. For a moment, Claudia thought she had fallen asleep, that was until she heard her clear her again.

"I ,um…kind of like HG."

Usually self-assured Myka, barely moved her lips as she spoke. At the admittance, she screwed her eyes together tightly as if trying to block out her surroundings. Unable to contain herself, Claudia burst out laughing. Insecure, Myka twisted her hands and pressed back into her chair.

"What?" The single word uttered too defensively to even hide the hurt. Claudia realizing her faux pas tried to stifle her laughter with a fist. Pressing her lips into a sheepish grin, Claudia cleared her throat quickly.

"Sorry Mykes, it's just, I think everyone except for you already knew this."

"What?" Myka looked mortified. "A-am I that obvious?"

Claudia smirked. "Um, you two dress similar, you always get extra grumpy when she's gone for a few days, and not to mention how possessive you get with your "HG and Me" time."

"Possessive! I am not possessive!" At those words, Myka's eyes flashed violently as her ear's turned a hopeless crimson.

"Uh, yes you are."

Myka was aghast.

"Aww, it's ok Myka, some people just aren't that good at hiding stuff like that."Claudia pressed a reassuring hand on Myka's knee. "We weren't making fun of you or anything."

The tension in Myka's shoulders dropped. Of course they wouldn't have made fun of her. They were her family. Hell, at times they were more of a family to her than her actual birth family. Myka raised shy eyes to Claudia's, a silent understanding passed between them.

"I know."

There was a shudder that ran through the warehouse and the lights flickered. Both turned to look at the aisles below as slowly but surely, each row relit to the previous glow. At the end of the row, the Tesla coils were visibly sending sparks of purple energy into the air.

Both women came to a stand as they took in the Warehouse. Claudia placed her fingers in the loops of her pants, "So it was the tape?"

Answering her question, the umbilicus door rattled as the lock shifted and the door popped backwards. Techie and Agent turned curiously to see who their saviors were.

A head full of dark shiny hair popped around the door. Deep brown eyes met with green and hazel simultaneously, as the owner broke into excited smile. HG Wells turned back into the umbilicus and yelled at someone else yet to appear. "They're in here!"

Stepping around the door, HG made her over to her follow agents. The smile she was wearing was dazzling as she appeared to be deeply relieved. "It is a great pleasure to see that you both are alive and well."

The time traveler squeezed their hands in greetings, giving Myka's an extra caress with the pads of her thumbs. Within moments, the clairvoyant innkeeper, Leena, appeared right behind her. The worry that was on the clairvoyant's face faded upon seeing both of her friends safe.

"What happened to you guys? We tried calling you and you never answered!"

HG continued for the innkeeper, surprisingly, her voice was the most calm of the two. "After sitting around, it dawned on us that no one saw either you or Claudia return to the B&B after the whole power outage. And so we looked for you around town."

This information sent Claudia and Myka bumbling.

""The what?"

"Went huh?"

" Univille's power outage. The storm had caused a glitch which shut the power off for about an hour. I was in the hardware store when it happened," HG's eyes sparkled as she recounted the tale, "The poor cashier helping me with the box was terribly afraid of the dark. When the store went black, he caught such a fright he knocked over an entire shelf of screwdrivers."

Claudia and Myka exchanged a glance. The confusion on their faces caused both of their friends to become worried once again.

"Wait, the power went out here too?" Leena asked incredulous.

Myka's face faded to amusement. She sighed and wiped a hand down the side of her face. "Yes, and the Farnsworths." Shock formed onto Leena and HG's faces. Before either woman could interrupt, Myka raised her hand gently and continued speaking.

"This may sound really, really, weird to the both of you but Claudia and I were under the impression it was an artifact that had caused it. We even went as far as to try and neutralize it."

Claudia held up Myka's mangled Tesla. The sight caused both HG and Leena to gasp. HG took the useless weapon into her hand and examined it. "Whatever in the world happened to that?"

"Pete's boombox."

"What?!"

"Anyway, it's perfect that you both are down here now cause Myka and I have some confessions to make." Claudia's eyes gleamed as she proudly gave the announcement.

"We're in love with you both."

"What?!" Both newcomers said simultaneously.

At her side, Myka squeezed her eyes shut at Claudia's unfortunate choice of words. Whatever she was attempting to convey was now officially muddled. Myka wasn't sure whether to let her go on, point out the mistake, or just melt into a puddle. Opening her eyes, she met the curious dark brown pools of HG's. Any words she was going to say in that moment were all but lost in the other woman's penetrating gaze.

Unaware, Claudia shrugged, "I know right? We kind of had a heart to heart and realized that."

Completely lost, Leena's eyes searched their auras as she remarked, "Is this the Goo or Marley's Ganja speaking?"

"Huh?"

Leena roped Claudia by the arm and turned heel, pulling her along, "You're coming with me back to the B&B, there is no way hell you're staying in here any longer. I told Artie this place drives people crazy."

Claudia twisted herself in front of the innkeeper blocking her exit. She grabbed her by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes, "Leena, listen, I'm being serious here. I'm in love with you, get it?"

Uncertainty was still evident in the Innkeepers eyes. Squeezing her shoulders and rolling her eyes exasperatedly, Claudia tried again. "I mean it Leena. L-O-V-E, touchy feely lovey loves with you!"

Leena's mouth fell open. After months of dancing around each other, this was definitely not the confession she had imagined.

"Lovey loves, Claudia?" An amused twinkle shone in her light eyes. The image had such an effect on the techie, her breath caught in her throat. Shakily releasing the innkeeper's shoulders, Claudia shuffled backwards a step.

"Uh, yeah."

"Aww!" Leena threw her arms around the awkward techie's neck and pulled her into the biggest bear hug slash kiss ever. Claudia's limbs flailed as she tried to keep both herself and Leena grounded.

Not very far from the display and entirely oblivious, HG and Myka continued to eye each other.

It seemed to have taken forever, but HG slowly stepped into the taller woman's personal space and overwhelmed her senses with her presence. She fussed over Myka's body as if expecting to find some bizarre tell-tale markings all over her.

"You didn't get struck by lightning did you, darling?" Myka shivered at the brush of HG's fingers tracing her arms. Paired with the delightful sound of the Englishwoman's accent, the moment wrecked havoc on her body.

"I will call Dr. Calder right now."

"No seriously, stop," Myka took HG's hands into her own. "I really, really, do love you Helena G. Wells."

The inventor tilted her head. "No ganja?"

"No."

"No lightning."

She was cut off as Myka placed her hands on her face and drew her inwards. The Victorians eyes widened as their lips impacted but quickly closed as the kiss deepened. A current unlike any other passed between the two women shocking them both to the core. Myka released the dark haired woman from her hold, allowing them both to stagger backwards.

"No lightning." She said, her voice breathless from the kiss. The Victorian had a huge smile on her face.

"That, I think we both could contest."

Her satisfied smile taking a turn into a soft blush, Myka leaned in as the Victorian seized her lips into yet another passion filled kiss.

"Eh..hmm! Theres other people in here you know!"

Eyes flashing, the couple broke apart to meet the smirks plastered on both the innkeeper and techie's face. Leena's smirk morphed into a genuine smile.

"Now that's what I like seeing. Happy auras!"

Myka and HG brows shot up. Wordlessly, innkeeper tilted her head towards the door, hand still linked onto the techie, led the way out of the warehouse.

Exchanging glances over the curious woman, Myka and HG followed in suit.

Though they exited in silence, there was no doubt about it. Any plans that had been previously made, now took the backseat as each couple had new and more exciting ideas on how to spend the rainy evening.

Perhaps a 13th Friday could be lucky after all.

**LATER**

"Who put this in my boombox?"

Pete spied a strange tape poking out of the loading compartment and pulled it free to see what it was. As he silently read the words on the tape, there was a thundering noise and the lights flickered out in the warehouse.

"Uh, Artie?"

A low whistling noise came from below. Pete leaned over the banister trying to see where it came from. There was a peculiar shuffling noise, then from a aisle, rolled a bright red rubber ball. Pete's eyes bulged as round as the doughnut in his hand.

"Uh, oh."

* * *

**NOTES**

*Pete did break his moms back before after stepping on a crack right? I didn't remember how that ended so…hopefully, it's partly true!

**this song was originally released on a vinyl. Using a boombox appealed to me.

***FUN FACT: Gabby Hartnett really does have a Catcher's Mask in the MLB Hall of Fame Archive.

**THANKS FOR READING!**


End file.
